Zolotoe Serdtse
 

I am growing Zolotoe Serdtse (Heart of Gold) from Carolyn's seed offer. It is an early, yellow/orange, small heart shaped tomato (like a plum or paste imho). Plant habit is very compact and the variety is extremely productive. Flavor isn't spectacular, but I think it is a great processing tomato. I would prefer the exact same tomato in a red or pink color. Is anyone aware of one that is similar, but in a different color?

[QUOTE=recruiterg;374927]I am growing Zolotoe Serdtse (Heart of Gold) from Carolyn's seed offer. It is an early, yellow/orange, small heart shaped tomato (like a plum or paste imho). Plant habit is very compact and the variety is extremely productive. Flavor isn't spectacular, but I think it is a great processing tomato. I would prefer the exact same tomato in a red or pink color. Is anyone aware of one that is similar, but in a different color?[/QUOTE]Of course there are many red and pink hearts, also from Russia, but Carolyn would be the best to say what's similar.

Having trouble again with my DSL line so I'll type fast.

Are you more interested in a paste variety ( processing) or a heart variety, and is sizeof fruit important? And is being early also a criterion?

I think it might be hard to satisfy all that you want, but I'll let you answer first.

Fact is, I prefer hearts and meaty beefsteak varieties over most paste varieties for making sauces of this and that b/c IMO they have better tastes and few seeds.

Carolyn

Carolyn

My Zolotoe Serdtse was a highly productive plant producing 2-4 oz. clear yellow plum like tomatoes. I found it dry and rather tasteless which is too bad since the plant was loaded. I may try again with this one since it doesn't take up too much room.
Sue

Carolyn, what I like about it is the following:
It early, plant habit is very compact and the variety is [U]extremely productive[/U]. Good processing tomato. Seems to be very disease resistant.

For a processing tomato, I'd rather have a red or pink for sauces and salsas. Any ideas?

Sherry pointed out to me that her Zolotoe Serdtse is heart shaped and an orange color. I took all my tomato plants down 2 weeks ago and they are still ripening out in the garage. Today I went out and checked and some of the fruits have turned more an orange color now. Most are a blocky plum shaped.
Sue

[QUOTE=carolyn137;374948]Having trouble again with my DSL line so I'll type fast.

Carolyn[/QUOTE]

At our house, AT&T has been going off for 2 to 10 min. every day for the last three weeks. Some days, it does this a dozen times or more.
They are "experiencing a high volume of calls and a thirty min. wait for customer service." Thirty minutes is a lie, and a great big one at that.
I hope you have a different provider. I wish we did and we will have at the first opportunity.

Ken

I'm also growing Zolotoe Serdtse and interested to hear the answers to your question, recruiterg. The growth habit is ideal and the production is fantastic. Also disease resistant for me, and cold tolerant and early. The size was good, not many as small as 2 oz, mostly 5-7 oz and the largest over 8 oz. Beautiful colour and very firm, not easily bruised and no cracking at all. I'd be happy to find ANY other tomatoes that produce as well as this one.

I also agree that the fruit is on the dry side, but they are juicier and tastier when they're ripe orange, for sure. I liked them very well cooked.

Since my ZS is setting fruit again after the heat, I decided to try a few crosses although it's a last ditch gamble at this stage. If they don't take, I'll try again next spring. ZS X Danko should be a compact and productive red. Danko was a good setter and producer but a much smaller plant than ZS, bigger clusters but fewer suckers and not as tall either. It's putting on a second crop now, though, as well - the fruit were about the same size 2-7 oz, but thin skinned, meaty and juicy.

Bower, interested in your comment about second crop. My ZS seem semi determinate. They produced a huge crop, but now don't seem to be flowering or adding additional fruit.

When my ZS got down to the last couple fruit, it started to put out new suckers and flowers. I did give all the plants a shot of fertilizer in August, and that seems to have made a difference.

Other 'determinates' seem to have the character that they don't ripen any fruit until they have finished setting. Then they stop flowering until the crop has been picked, but after that they will flower again. It helps to fertilize and to cut them back if they need it. ZS didn't follow that pattern, it was still flowering and setting fruit when the first began to ripen. It only stopped setting when everything else did, because of the intense heat. It has a few nearly ripe fruit now that must have set on cloudy days, but in the last couple weeks of cooler weather it has set at least a dozen more, and suckers and buds are coming on... too bad it'll soon be too late for them.

Based on your description of what you're looking for -- compact, productive, for processing, red -- Heidi comes to mind. It's a plum and also semi determinate. I had only one plant in a five gallon grow bag this year, and it's still healthy as can be and loaded with it's second round of tomatoes that have started ripening over the past week. The tomatoes are averaging about two to three ounces, but they are all uniform and perfect in shape. And, Heidi was also introduced by Carolyn. I'm planning on several more plants next year.

[QUOTE=Father'sDaughter;375428]Based on your description of what you're looking for -- compact, productive, for processing, red -- Heidi comes to mind. It's a plum and also semi determinate. I had only one plant in a five gallon grow bag this year, and it's still healthy as can be and loaded with it's second round of tomatoes that have started ripening over the past week. The tomatoes are averaging about two to three ounces, but they are all uniform and perfect in shape. And, Heidi was also introduced by Carolyn. I'm planning on several more plants next year.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more with Heidi and thanks to a former student, Heidi Iyok from Cameroon for giving me the seeds for it along with some wickedly hot peppers as well.

Other paste/processing ones that might be considered would be:

Martino's Roma, red
Kenosha Paste, red if I remember correctly

Kukla's Portuguese Paste, which gives some plants with red tomatoes and other plants with pink ones, kinda a twofer, if you will.And excellet taste and production.

Carolyn